The stock market will close at 1 p.m. Eastern on Friday, and no economic data are on the calendar.

“I think volume will be light, but I think we have all of the ingredients for this post-Thanksgiving rally to develop into a Christmas rally,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital. He said the S&P 500 index
SPX, +0.04%
could be looking at its fifth straight gain if it closes higher on Friday.

Underpinning that positive sentiment was a German survey that beat forecasts. The German Ifo index of business sentiment, reported Friday, beat expectations with a November rise to 101.4 against forecasts that called for a drop to 99.5, according to media reports.

Cardillo said investors were also upbeat about a deal for Greece and also were playing catchup to Thanksgiving Day gains for Europe and Asia markets on the back of an upbeat gauge of China manufacturing.

Black Friday sales were also underpinning sentiment, according to Cardillo. “It seems a frenzy out there, but it does look as though people are looking at those bargains and buying them,” he said. “That’s encouraging going forward for holiday sales.”

Reuters

Customers shop at Wal-Mart on Thanksgiving Day in Salem, N.H., Nov. 22, 2012.

Among individual movers, shares of Research in Motion Ltd.
US:RIMM
jumped 12% in premarket trading. Some analysts have been getting bullish on the stock in anticipation of the Blackberry 10. Shares rallied in Canadian trading the prior day.

The euro
EURUSD, -0.4642%
gained against the dollar, rising above $1.29, boosted by the German Ifo survey.

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